Playing-ball.



B. F. SHIBE.

PLAYING BALL.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 19, 1912.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914.

HE A

jg/VENTOR A/zorney WIT/VESSE BENJAMIN F. SHIBE, OF BALA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PLAYING-BALL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914.

Application filed April 19, 1912. Serial No. 691,875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. SHIBE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Bala, in the county of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Playing-Balls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to playing balls.

The object of my inventionis to produce a playing ball of fibrous material possessing resiliency and which will not wad or compact in use and will retainits spherical contour and preferred degree of resiliency.

A further object thereof is to produce a resilient playing ball of fibrous material in which the degree of resiliency is regulated by the degree of compression or compactness of said component material.

Another object of my invention is to provide a ball constructed of kapok compressed and compacted tovthe necessary degree to produce the preferred weight and degree of resiliency, and a still further'object thereof is to provide a more simple, cheap, eflicient article of said class than has heretofore been produced. 7

To these ends, my invention includes the combination and arrangement of component parts to be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a playing ball of my invention showing the fibrous and resilient material slightly compressed,

and Fig. 2 is a s milar view in which the component filling material is more tightly compressed to produce greater resiliency and prompter reactions.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 indicates a playing ball of my invention which is constructed of the compressed resilient fibrous substance 2 formed into spherical shape and compressed and held therein by the filamentous windings 3, and the whole structure is incased in the flexible cover 4.

I have found that a fibrous substance known as kapok possesses the quality of compressibility and resiliency, and of recovering promptly its normal contour, and of being extremely light in weight. Such substance may be employed as the filler 2 in my playing ball, and as shown may be compressed and compacted to the preferred degree to attain the desired weight and resiliency, and it has been found that whatever the degree of compacting-compression, said substance in use will not wad and become eccentric and willalways recover its original contour and resiliency. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. A playing ball comprising a structure of artially compressed resilient material having substantially the characteristics of kapok incased in a flexiblecover.

2. A playing ball comprising a spherical structure of partially compressed resilient fibrous material having substantially the characteristics of kapok incased in a flexible cover.

BENJAMIN F. SHIBE.

Witnesses THos. S. SHIBE,

ELsm J. MOHR. 

